Monday, November 11, 2013

Zoom zoom, y'all! Manatee students compete at F1 in Schools World Finals in Texas

Students from Southeast High School and Lakewood Ranch High School are gathering with other young engineering and racing enthusiasts from around the country and around the world for the 2013 F1 in Schools World Finals in Austin, Texas. Allegiance Racing, the team of five Manatee County high school students, have been in Texas since Nov. 8. Its members are Aly Paige Cote, Sean Martin, Sheel Patel, Joey Kamor and Merritt Kendzior.The students are spending Veterans Day presenting their model cars and preparing to see how fast their car go in timed trials. The cars are C02-powered models made from lightweight balsa wood. They are capable of running a 60-foot track in a second.The team finished the engineering interview portion of the event Monday morning. Describing their car designs in intricate detail pumped them up for their timed trials. The students had been in interviews from around 8:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. Margi Nanney, a long-time volunteer for the Formula 1 races and the Technology Student Association, said professional engineers from around the world grill students on their designs, from conception of their cars to what equipment was used to build them. "It is very intense," Nanney said. As of Monday at 11:15 a.m., the Manatee County Allegiance Racing team stood in third place out of 38 teams, but Nanney said that is subject to change throughout the day. "The judges love them," Nanney said. "There has been real camaraderie between the teams."The competition concludes Wednesday, November 13 with an awards ceremony.

Allegiance Racing team members Aly Paige Cote, Sean Martin, Sheel Patel, Joey Komor and Merritt Kendzior in uniform and ready for the F1 in Schools World Finals in Austin, Texas.